Film Series: The Decline of Western Civilization

The Decline of Western Civilization is a film documentary trilogy by Penelope Spheeris chronicling different elements of Los Angeles street subcultures including punk rock, heavy metal and 'gutter' punk . The films themselves are in part rock/concert footage, ethnography and genuine social commentary.

The first film in the series was shot in LA in 1979 and 1980 and was released in the summer of 1981. It is comprised of live footage and interviews of influential underground punk bands that at the time went largely unnoticed by mainstrem rock/music press including Black Flag, Germs, Circle Jerks  and many more. The film touches on the ethos of punk rock and the relationship to issues of corporate control, 'stardom,' drug use and authenticity.

The second film entitled The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, filmed from 1986-1988 (released in '88) deals largely with the Glam Metal scene of late 80's LA and the excess and endulgence that ensued. The film contains performances and footage of metal superstars, wannabees, industry types, club owners all describing their lifestyles and perspectives on the scenes. The film contains infamous interviews with Chris Holmes of WASP intoxicated in a pool, Ozzy Osbourne speaking about sobriety and the ramifications of drug use, Steven Tyler talking about spending millions of dollars on drugs as well as appearances by Lemmy from Motorhead, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Paul Stanley from KISS and many more. The film touches on the afformentioned issues of drug and alcohol abuse as well as misogyny and treatment of 'groupies', money, sales, celebrity among others. 

The third film in the series revisits punk culture in the late 90's and compares it to the subculture outlined in the original film in terms of aesthetic, ideology, and music. Spheeris' third film follows a group of gutter punks, mostly homeless (often by choice), transient teenagers who shut out mainstream society and opt to squat and live on the street as an embodiment of hardcore punk and anti-establishment ethos. The film features performances by underground hardcore punk bands Final Conflict, Litmus Green, Naked Aggression and The Resistance.

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CORE Artist Introduction: The Nightmares

CORE would proudly like to introduce one of the first Toronto bands to join the CORE collective: The Nightmares, an explosive, high energy 4-piece rock band formed during the early months of 2009. I would describe the band's style as hyper-melodic, hook-laden garage punk anthems on steroids/too much redbull. The band's sound is consistent with very distinct imagery and visuals that give off a 'classic horror film' vibe with an equal dose of comic book graphics and a whole lot of aggressive energy. Their most recent video for Static State directed by Peter J Arvidsson and the ELEKTRIK PLAYGROUND is a prime example of their sound and image. The video has the band performing in a forest, a mansion and a graveyard. All seeming to be hellish, demonic and haunted. The video itself follows in a style similar to Zack Snyder (300) or Spartacus Blood and Sand, mixing animation and live action with hyperreal violence and pacing.  Recently, The Nightmares released their self-titled debut EP recorded at the Flat Soda Studio with Matt Pomade of the Creepshow and have released it independently through Black Coffin Records.

The EP - produced by Peter Arvidsson (Dumper, Robin Black) - hopes to garner the band some attention from both the local and global music community and set the band apart from others by establishing themselves as a talented and determined young band with the potential to do big things. The band is currently promoting their debut self-titled EP which has been released worldwide on iTunes.

The Nightmares will be performing live at the CORE Toronto Showcase this coming fall, check back for details!



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Mastadon Releases Upcoming Album Art

Check out the cover of Mastadon's upcoming album 'Hunter.'

Deer Metal.

Also check this hilarious video for Deathbound. HERE



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July in Metal

A few posts back we brought you a list of events in Toronto. Here is a reminder of what is happening this month in Metal and Hard Rock.

Mychildren Mybride, Impending Doom, A Bullet For A Pretty Boy, The Crimson Armada

July 12, 2011

Doors @ 7:00 PM

Annex WreckRoom

Toronto, ON

The Nocturnal Alliance Tour

Heavy T.O Two Day Metal Festival!!!

July 23-24, 2011

Downsview Park, Allen Road (After-show at Sound Academy on Sat)

Toronto, ON

The biggest metal gathering to ever come through Toronto, a two day massacre featuring the likes of: Motorhead,Children of Bodom, Slayer, Megadeth, Testament, Anthrax, Exodus, Rob Zombie, Opeth, Death Angel, Diamond Head and more!



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Track of the day: Bad Brains - Sailin' On

Often credited as the pioneers of hardcore punk Washington D.C.'s Bad Brains have a sound so manifold it would be unjust to bind them within the sole genre they established. Bad Brains began as a Jazz fusion band in the mid '70s in the same vein as fusion ensembles such as Chick Corea's Return to Forever and were well versed in the Hard Rock of the era ie. Black Sabbath. The introduction of punk and ska punk to the band began the formation of the diverse yet iconic sound attributed to Bad Brains. While the initial success of the band is sometimes credited to the novelty of seeing an entirely African American band play punk music, their contributions to a wide spectrum of music (hardcore, punk, metal, alternative, hip hop, ska, reggae...) stands testament by the large number of successful (culturally and commercially) bands that have directly drawn influence from the band. To name a few: Faith No More, In Living Color, Fishbone, Sublime, Black Flag, P.O.D., Deftones, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine and many many more. Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins once noted that he was inspired by the pacing of Bad Brains' abrasive, hard, fast rhythyms juxtaposed to mellow, smooth reggae and it was this dichotomy that Corgan used to develop the Pumpkins' sound.

I have personally had the pleasure of seeing a Bad Brains performance live and it is unlike any punk  concert I have seen before. Singer HR stands tall, stern and relatively unmoved raising two peace signs while creating a myriad of vocal textures and literally emitting multiple voices.



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Rising: Sleigh Bells

In April of 2010 I had the pleasure of being present at the first Toronto performance by Brooklyn rock/electronic duo Sleigh Bells. Prior to their album release Sleigh Bells presence was limited to a rough demo circulating online featuring very lo-fi production with an extremely gated sound. I had wondered the degree of intent with this effect, as the recording sounded as though it just could not contain the music, a cool effect but bordering on, well shit.
Sleigh bells consists of Derek Miller, former guitarist from hardcore band Poison the Well and pop vocalist Alexis Krauss. The performance consisted of Krauss yelling over chopped up punk, rock and electro beats while Miller played as loud as fucking possible. It got loud.I had only hoped that this energy and pure volume could be translated back to a recorded medium and just months later the issues I had with the demo were reconciled with the release of the debut lp Treats. Loud, gated, but listenable. Since the release of Treats Sleigh Bells have garnered heaps of underground and mainstream exposure and have gone from playing the 200-300 cap club circuit to 1000+ venues. Sleigh Bells plays loud, no matter what your musical pedigree is you cannot dismiss their raw energy. Listen



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Today's Deep Cut: Monobrow

Today's obscure track explores the theme of controversy in rock music. The track in focus is entitled 'Monobrow.' Lyrically the song could be considered tame in contrast to a vast majority of work spanning genres, while the song itself is a loud ebb with violent swells and vocal outburts, it still does not present anything too shocking to contemporary artists (though it is fairly progressive for '88). The major controversy deals with the name of the band. Rapeman. Formed by hardcore punk veteran Steve Albini of Big Black (also working with Nirvana, the Pixies and Cheap Trick among others), Rapeman was named in tribute of a bizarre Japanese comic book of the same name. Rapeman was often met with a barrage of protest on the basis of their band name alone, with allegedly supporting or glorifying rape and violence to women. While naming a band Rapeman may superficially seem to reinforce said allegations they could not be further from the truth (at least according to Albini), as feminist ideology has often been absorbed into the ethos of the punk movement, particularly hardcore (and the straight edge movement of the late 80's). Were the protesters wrong for misinterpreting tribute or satire? Was Rapeman in the wrong for exploiting a social taboo or were they in the right for doing so? Either way you look at it such controversy helps add to the appeal, allure and (even minor) publicity of a work... as well as providing the larger social function of discourse surrounding the issue itself (rape) and censorship and self expression.

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